In contrast, new EU truck registrations fell by 4% to 85,296 units. This was mainly due to a 5.4% decrease in heavy-truck sales and despite a 5% growth in medium trucks. Germany and France reported slight decreases of 2.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Spain and Italy defied the trend with robust gains of 15.7% and 6.6%, respectively.
Bus sales also had a positive start to the year, with new EU registrations surging by 23.3% compared to the first quarter of 2023, totalling 9,624 units. While sales dropped by 16.8% in France, three major markets grew substantially: Germany (+20%), Italy (+18.3%), and Spain (+7.6%).
New commercial vehicles by power source
Vans
Diesel was the preferred choice for new vans in the EU in the first quarter of 2024. Sales rose by 12.2% to 336,698 units, holding a stable 84.2% market share (a slight dip from 84.5% in Q1 2023). Petrol models increased by a significant 18.8%, accounting for 6.1% share. Electrically chargeable vans experienced a more modest 4.2% growth, capturing a 5.8% market share, a slight decrease from 6.2% last year. Hybrid van sales are gradually gaining pace, with a 12.6% growth, while only accounting for 2.2% share of the market.
Trucks
Diesel maintained its dominance in the truck market in the first quarter of 2024. Diesel trucks accounted for 95.5% of new EU registrations, despite a 4.5% drop compared to the previous year. Electrically chargeable trucks grew by a robust 29.5%, securing almost 2% of the market share, up from 1.4% last year. Germany led this expansion with a 173.7% growth, contributing to 56% of the EU’s electrically chargeable truck sales.
Buses
New EU electrically chargeable bus registrations rose by 10.3% in the first quarter of 2024. However, the market share decreased slightly from last year’s 13.7% to 12.3%. Germany, the largest market by volume, grew by 20.7%. Romania’s market increased by a sizeable 149.2%, making it the second-largest market for electrically chargeable buses. France, previously the largest market, saw its electrically chargeable bus sales more than halve with a 66.4% decrease. Meanwhile, hybrid-electric bus sales experienced a marginal decline of 1.9%, and now make up 10.9% of the market. Diesel bus registrations grew by a robust 38.8% and now represent a 70.7% market share, an increase from the previous year’s 62.8%.